What will Libby Pataki and Nina Libeskind say when they see their husbands locked in this loving embrace?

Two unlikely lovebirds, Gov. Pataki and Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind, were on hand – and in each others’ hands – for the unveiling yesterday of the design for a new World Trade Center Cultural Center.

The increasingly unpopular governor and the much-criticized architect didn’t let their marked height difference stand in the way when they got that loving feeling after the press conference downtown.

Don’t worry, New York, they didn’t actually smooch.

But Pataki was full of praise for Libeskind.

“Right now, there’s no reason to believe that any part of the master plan that Daniel Libeskind put out will not be built,” Pataki said. “We’re just very optimistic.”

“But someone has to orchestrate the music. That’s what the master plan is for.”

The Cultural Center was designed by a Norwegian architectural firm called Snohetta and will be located across from where the north tower once stood, at Greenwich and Fulton streets. It will overlook the memorial on one side and the PATH terminal on the other.

“It will be both a gateway to the memorial and a window forward to a bright future,” said designers Craig Dyker and Kjetil Thorsen.

The center will have five double floors that will slope upward toward a landscaped public terrace.

The building will be the home of the International Freedom Center – a place where visitors can learn about “the global struggle for freedom and human dignity.”

It will also house the Drawing Center and a visitors center.

Groundbreaking on the center is scheduled for 2007.

After securing several support pillars, the center will then be built from the top down because the ceilings are all suspended from the pillars.

“It’s like the Brooklyn Bridge,” said designer Dyker. “It will be suspended forever.”

The designers said the building will “meet and exceed” all security requirements.

“I love the design,” Pataki said.

Libeskind called it “magnificent.”

“It promises to be a shining star in the dazzling design constellation that is making this one of the great eras for architecture in New York’s history,” Mayor Bloomberg said.

But Monica Iken, who lost her husband in the attacks and represents many 9/11 family members, said the center detracts from the memorial.

“It’s a beautiful cultural institution. But why is it that it’s piggybacking off a memorial? Why can’t it stand alone?”

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Culture club

The World Trade Center Cultural Center:

* About 10 stories high and 250,000 square feet

* Costs $500 million, paid with private funds

* Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2007, completion for 2009

* Includes visitors center, International Freedom Center and Drawing Center